Monday Morning Mailbag: Re-Signing of Dozier & O-Line Options

[Viktor]

You would almost need to see how the board fell at that spot before deciding on the deal. Trading up to get a player like Sewell could be tempting, but if other linemen such as Rashawn Slater (Northwestern), Christian Darrisaw (Virginia Tech) or Alijah Vera-Tucker (Southern California) are still available, maybe the Vikings would choose to stand pat and save those future picks.


The buzz around the draft will only build in the coming weeks. And be sure to stay tuned to Vikings.com starting this week for in-depth coverage and analysis on every position group before the fun begins on April 29.


We could definitely use better press coverage rather than soft zone coverage. We should also use Anthony Barr as a pass rusher like Von Miller.


— Ryan Johnson in Loveland, Colorado


A big takeaway from Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer's media availability last week was that he is tinkering with Minnesota's defensive scheme this offseason to adapt to what opposing offenses have done in recent seasons.


Here's part of what he said on Wednesday:


"The No. 1 thing that we want to do on defense is we want to play fast. We want to play physical. We don't want to be thinking," Zimmer said. "And the offenses lately have been getting us to think because we've had to adjust here and adjust there and do this and do that, and some of these things we've talked about, and it's just too hard to implement during the season."


We'll have to wait until the team actually unveils these changes in a game to see what Zimmer really means. But it sounds like changes are coming to Zimmer's unit.


As for Barr, it seems there is always offseason chatter about having him rush the passer more, only for the Vikings to use the ultra-athletic linebacker to try and create mismatches for the defense.


Remember when Barr sacked Matt Ryan on the Vikings very first defensive play of the 2019 season? He only tallied 0.5 sacks in the next 928 snaps for the rest of the season, instead being used as a versatile chess piece all over the field.


Barr has routinely worked with Minnesota's defensive linemen in recent offseasons with hand placement and pass rushing moves. There's a chance he could do that again in training camp, but recent history shows us that he'll be asked to do a bit of everything on defense and not primarily focus on rushing the passer.